Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement for details.

Get Out of Your SEO Time Machine!

Some people continue to use the same tactics to optimize sites, even though things have changed. Others seem to think that search engines can now use human language and no longer need any special attention. Both groups -- those living in the past and those looking toward a possible future -- are missing opportunities.

What’s SEO? The time machine has two settings: Past – rely on keyword density for your one keyword! Future- Dystopian- Google changes constantly for no reason, so why bother? Utopian- search engines are just like people now, so there’s no need.

I’m Rebecca Haden from Haden Interactive, a local WordPress shop

Here’s our team – we’d love to meet you and we’re happy to answer questions.

SEO involves a lot of activities

So why care about SEO in the first place? It’s how new customers, clients, donors, readers, etc. find you ZMOT is when people now make their purchase decisions Highest ROI, in case you’re a business, but if you’re not, it could be an investment of time

Make sure everyone knows what an algorithm is. Indexing Native WP search engine works the way they all used to work – shows you the instances of the word from most recent.

Rankings are still key, but it’s not like video games any more. “I’m #1 at Google” has a lot less meaning than it used to. #1 used to mean you showed at #1, but now it depends on the geography, social info, and browsing history of the searcher, too. Your customers see different things, and you don’t control them all. You must use Webmaster Tools to find your rankings, and you’ll see that it’s not “You’re #1” – it’s you were shown at this average position when you were shown.

When it was shown, it was shown at #1, but these are not 100% of the searches using these terms – sometimes it wasn’t shown at all.

Who do you think came up first for bakeries in Fayetteville?

These were my results – the three top choices showed up in local search in their ranked order, Rick’s had two additional links, Bliss had one.

These were Rosie’s results – all three top results showed up, in ranked order, but it looks different.

The ranks haven’t changed with the addition of the carousel to local results.

Rankings have changed, but also the way people use the internet has changed.

4047 visits, 2612 keywords – considering a few relatively popular terms and the “not provided,” that’s almost a different search phrase for each visitor.

Rick’s sells bread, but they don’t show up here at all, even though we know they’re ranked #1.

Don’t obsess over rankings – look at traffic and conversion. Don’t act like a machine. Optimize to communicate well with search engines, using the terms your customers search for. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Optimize for people all along the path to purchase, use a range of techniques.

Use your keywords in your posts and profiles. Google plays favorites.

Why links are important. Have great content, use social media to get the content out there so people will link to it.

Get Out of Your SEO Time Machine!

1.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization:
Communicating well with search
engines and with human beings.
GET OUT OF
YOUR
SEO TIME
MACHINESEO hasn’t died, but it has changed.
You need to change your approach.

5.
Why SEO ?
Be found by people
looking for your
goods and services.
Reach customers at
the Zero Moment of
Truth.
SEO has the highest
ROI of any
marketing tactic.
05

6.
PAST FUTURE-UTOPIA FUTURE-DYSTOPIA
Put in lots of meta keywords,
post articles at Buzzle, and
make sure your keyword is in
the first and last sentences!
Search engines don’t need
anything special – they read
websites just the way humans
do and make the same
decisions people would!
Search engines just randomly
change the rules all the time for
no reason, so there’s no point
in trying to communicate with
them any more!
The Settings on the SEO Time Machine

7.
• How search engines work
• How rankings work
• How people use search engines
What Has Changed
10
Search engines are smarter
and people use them better.

8.
How Search Engines Work
When people search, Google looks at
what it has already indexed.
It offers the best match, according to
the algorithm and the decisions it has
already made about the pages it has
already indexed.
15
Google crawls and indexes
sites. Each page is ranked
by its topic and its value.

9.
Why does the algorithm change?• Technology improves –
Google works constantly to
improve the search engine.
• When people try to game the
system, Google reacts, to
keep the search engine
working well.
• Just like taxes, the search
engine algorithms are also
used to influence behavior.

10.
• Different people see different things.
• Rankings are based on both on-page
and off-page factors, including facts
about the searcher.
• Rankings are now only part of what
determines what people see on the
SERPs.
• You can’t tell where you rank by
Googling.
Ranking Factors
Directories
Blogs Articles
Social Media
Press Release
11
Rankings are still important,
but they’re not the same as
they used to be.• Quality website
• Authority
Reviews

12.
Rick’s showed up #1 in 8 of the 9 searches.
Personalized search doesn’t change
rankings, and Rick’s is #1 for bakeries in
Fayetteville.
Ranking Experiment (2012)
09
We did 9 searches, 3 each
on 3 computers, for bakeries
in Fayetteville, AR

13.
Rick’s, Bliss, Stone Mill
In 9 trials conducted on 3
different computers, the
rankings are clear.
However, the results were
different. All three top
bakeries were below the
fold at least once.
Other bakeries showed
once or twice.
We tried Bing and Google
signed out, and Google
signed in.

15.
Rick’s, Bliss, Stone Mill
The rankings are the
same, but the results are
different:
•Rick’s was the only local
result, and got the top
two spaces.
•An article from a Little
Rock paper on
Fayetteville bakeries
came ahead of Stone
Mill’s website.

16.
2103
The look is different,
but the rankings are
the same.
Below the fold options
now have photos
above the fold.

17.
• We’re better at finding what we
want. We modify our queries fast.
• We’re all about the long tail search;
few people use one-word searches.
• We use more social media – we find
things and share them.
• We have online hangouts, like
Pinterest or YouTube.
People Use the Internet Differently
08
We’re not surfing any more.

18.
New Search Style
• Lots of different keywords
• Few one-word searches
• Lots more social sharing

19.
Long Tail Search
People are more likely
to use longer searches,
and the results are likely
to be quite different from
one-word searches.
For your business, it’s
not all about getting a
#1 ranking for your #1
keyword.

20.
• Don’t obsess over rankings – have the
best company and the best website you
can and watch the competition.
• Don’t act like a machine. If your
methods can be done by machine,
they’re not working, or won’t work in
the future.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Not because there’s anything wrong
with the basket.
What Does This Mean for SEO?
If you’re following advice from
2005 (other than having a great
website), you’re doing it wrong.
18

21.
• Integrate social media and SEO.
• Don’t forget Google+.
• Use data to plan your social media
strategy.
Social Media and SEO
14
Social signals are now used
by search engines to decide
what they show searchers

22.
Links are still an essential part of the search engine algorithms, and social media can
influence links.
Social Media and Linkbuilding
16